Decisive parliamentary battle in Israel to eliminate Netanyahu
Israel clings more than ever to its unquestionable democratic values. And even the coronavirus doesn't seem to be breaking that pattern. The scenario features a sitting prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the conservative Likud, on trial for alleged payoffs, corruption and bribery. He failed to win a majority of the 120 seats in the Knesset in the third general election called in just one year, and President Reuven Rivlin decided to entrust the formation of government to his opponent, former General Benny Gantz, leader of the centre-left Blue and White alliance.
The military man, who would lead the offensive against the Gaza Strip in 2014, has only 28 days to gather the 61 seats that would certify the majority needed to govern, but this is only possible if he gets the agreement of both the ultra-right-wing Israel Our House, led by Avigdor Lieberman, and the Joint List of Arab Israeli parties.
The most predictable thing is that Gantz will not get the support of such heterogeneous forces, which would lead Rivlin to ask Netanyahu again to form a government with sufficient parliamentary support. In case he succeeds, unless he is convicted, Netanyahu could continue leading the administration, even if he is still in office, and even open the door to new general elections, the fourth ones without a sufficient majority being defined.
The situation has changed since Wednesday, when the Speaker of the Knesset, Yuli Edelstein, resigned, refusing to convene the plenary session that would vote for his own removal, as ordered by the Supreme Court, but making it easier for his intended successor, Meir Cohen, to take office before next week. This is obviously a parliamentary ruse, since the resignation only takes effect after 48 hours, which makes it easier for Netanyahu to continue to take drastic measures on the pretext of the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the first deaths and more than two thousand infections.
Before slamming the door, Edelstein, a respected veteran of Stalinist Russia's concentration camps, harshly attacked the Supreme Court judges for summoning him to convene the full parliament, accusing them of “interfering with the functions of the legislature”. This is not the view of at least a large proportion of the members of Parliament, who will probably have to vote on an urgent law preventing a defendant from serving as prime minister. It would be practically the only possibility Gantz would have to unseat Netanyahu, who will undoubtedly take advantage of the time his friend and party colleague, Edelstein, has bought him, so that some hypothetical Blue and White defectors can prevent the approval of such a law.
The pandemic may also turn the situation around. Initially, Netanyahu and Gantz had agreed to make whatever arrangements were necessary to combat the coronavirus. However, the new parliamentary situation has led to the breakdown of negotiations, allowing the Prime Minister to decree the total closure of synagogues, churches and mosques, confinement and mobility restrictions to prevent the spread of the plague. In short, to rise up as the great leader of this new war, and therefore increase his popularity rates, which is undoubtedly a significant pressure factor, even in the politics of a democracy such as the Israeli one.